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In a historic first, a Hyderabad-based senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer’s request to change her name and gender in all official records has been approved by the Centre.
Senior IRS officers have praised the directive as “progressive,” representing it as a historic precedent for gender inclusivity within government roles.
Let’s take a closer look.
The name change
M Anusuya, a 35-year-old Joint Commissioner assigned to the Chief Commissioner’s (Authorised Representative) office at the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in Hyderabad, submitted the plea for name and gender change.
She requested that her gender be changed from female to male and that her name be changed to M Anukathir Surya.
The order dated July 9, a copy of which obtained by News18, states, “Ms M Anusuya, IRS (C&IT: 2013) [Employee Code: 4623, DOB: 20.10.1988] presently posted as Joint Commissioner in 0/o Chief Commissioner (AR), CESTAT, Hyderabad has requested for change of her name from Ms M Anusuya to Mr M Anukathir Surya and Gender from Female to Male.”
According to the ministry’s order, the officer’s request has been taken into consideration and granted.
“The request of Ms M Anusuya has been considered. Henceforth, the officer will be recognised as ‘Mr M Anukathir Surya’ in all official records.” The order further added that the decision was taken with the “approval of the competent authority”.
The order is addressed to the Chief Commissioner (AR), the Principal Chief Commissioners/Principal Directors General under the CBIC, Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.
A similar bureaucratic precedent is of Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan, who worked for the Odisha Finance Service and was able to legally change her gender identity to that of a person belonging to the third gender, as per The Hindu.
Impact Shorts
View AllAbout M Anukathir Surya
According to my LinkedIn profile, Surya began working in Chennai as an associate commissioner in December 2012.
In 2018, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Commissioner.
He moved to Hyderabad last year to take up his current position.
The 35-year-old has completed his Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication from the Madras Institute of Technology in Chennai, and finished a PG Diploma in Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics from the National Law Institute University in Bhopal in 2023.
‘Reflection of inclusivity’
According to officers, the decision may serve as an example for more inclusive laws and procedures in India’s numerous sectors.
“This is a significant development, highlighting progress in the recognition and acceptance of gender identity within the Indian Civil Services. The approval by the ministry of finance sets a precedent for inclusivity and support for transgender individuals in government positions,” said a senior IRS officer to News18.
“This is pathbreaking order, we are all proud of the officer and also our ministry,” said another senior IRS officer serving in the income tax department.
Gender identity: a personal choice
This development comes about a decade after the Supreme Court recognised the third gender in the NALSA case.
The court said that gender identity was a personal choice.
“There seems to be no reason why a transgender must be denied basic human rights… The Constitution has fulfilled its duty of providing rights to transgenders. Now it’s time for us to recognise this and to extend and interpret the Constitution in such a manner as to ensure a dignified life for transgender people. All this can be achieved if the beginning is made with the recognition of a transgender as a third gender,” the court observed, according to India Today.
The judgement reads, “If a person has changed his/her sex in tune with his/her gender characteristics and perception, which has become possible because of the advancement in medical science, and when that is permitted in medical ethics with no legal embargo, we do not find any impediment, legal or otherwise, in giving due recognition to the gender identity based on the reassign sex after undergoing surgery.”
Hyderabad leading the way
According to Indian Express, in 2015, a BA LLB student requested that NALSAR (National Academy of Legal Studies and Research) University the graduate certificate not include the student’s gender and that an honorific prefix of “Mx” be used rather than “Ms.”
The institution granted her request, which the student called a modest beginning towards acknowledging gender fluidity in the country.
In March 2022, the university dedicated one floor of the dorms to an inclusive area for LGBTQ+ students, as per the newspaper.
In 2023, after securing a position in the MD Emergency Medicine programme at ESI Hospital, Hyderabad, Dr Ruth Paul John became the first transgender doctor to pursue post-graduation in the country.
As per the outlet, in July of the same year, the Telangana government established the first transgender clinic in Osmania General Hospital.
In February this year, the University of Hyderabad announced a transgender policy for the start of the 2024–25 academic year, the second university after Delhi University to implement such a move.
With inputs from agencies
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